Demarcation of Science
from other academic
disciplines
-Demarcation
of natural sciences
from other academic disciplines
-Demarcation of science from
technology, pure and applied
science
-Demarcation
D
ti
off science
i
from
f
mathematics
Literature:
Popper, Chalmers, Ziman, Kitcher
Definitions (OED)
(
)




Science – systematic
s stematic st
study
d through
th o gh obse
observation,
ation
experimentation, interpretation to the derivation of universal
laws and theories
Natural Sciences – the study of the nature of the material and
physical universe (physics, chemistry, biology, geology,
astronomy, etc.)
Social Sciences – the study of society and the relationship of
individual members within society (economics, history, political
science, psychology, anthropology, sociology, etc.)
Technology
gy – the application
pp
of p
practical or mechanical
sciences, usually to industry of commerce; the methods, theory
and practice governing such applications
(Vit
(Vitenskap
k
– science
i
or branch
b
h off knowledge)
k
l d )
Background - demarcation

Aristotle and Plato – no distinction between

Greeks to the Age
g of Enlightenment
g
–

Bacon and Descartes – scientific

Russell and Wittgenstein – demarcation

science and philosophy
mysticism, religion, ideology
methodology, logic, mathematics
between metaphysics and science; and between
science and mathematics
Popper – demarcation between natural and
social sciences
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Science and Mathematics



Similarities:
Si
il iti
search
h ffor ttruth
th and
d prooff
Science relies on mathematics
Differences:


Mathematics relies on logic rather than experiment and
observation
M th
Mathematics
ti uses more sophisticated
hi ti t d forms
f
off proof:
f eg.
Asserting a proposition by proving that its negation
implies a contradiction
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Philosophy of Mathematics




Origins of mathematics in China, India, Arabia,
Middle East, Greece
Philosophical questions concerned with the
nature of mathematical truth. Are numbers
mental constructs, facets of an idealised reality,
rules
l
Mathematics: Analytical statements: true by
virtue of the meanings of words
Science: Synthetic statements: true by
virtue of the way things are
Al Kwarizimi (ca
Al-Kwarizimi
830) : Source of
words algebra and
word alogarithm
Milestones in the Philosophy
of Mathematics


Russell and Whitehead’s Principia Mathematica,
1910
Gödels Incompleteness Theorum proved that there
will always be unanswerable questions in
mathematics. No logic system is capable of
providing
idi
th
the firm
fi
foundations
f
d ti
th
thatt Russel
R
l had
h d
hoped for
Russell’s Paradox: Imagine there is a town with one
barber, and where the law states that everyone who
doesn’t shave himself is shaved by the barber. Who
shaves the barber? (1901)
Milestones in the Philosophy
of Mathematics

Chaos Theory: Lorenz (1960) observations of effect
of small varitations in weather models: Non
Non-linear
linear
systems
J. Gleick. Chaos (1987(; Fermat’s Last
Theorum,
Th
A. Doxiadis and C.H Papadatos:
Logicomix; Uncle Petros
Science and Technology

Arguments for a difference
Scientific thought has only
one genesis
i (Greece-Europe)
(G
E
)
 Technology developed all
over the world
 The understanding of the
world acquired
q
through
g
science is different than that
obtained from technology

Thales (600-585 BC)
(Wolpert, 1992)
Counter-arguments
Requires a theory of what science is
 The distinction between science and
technology seems blurred in modern
esea c
research
 The pragmatist/instrumentalist
claims that science is only science
when it is of practical use

Similarities between science
and other academic studies
Intellectual, reflectory
 Own technical language
 Informative ”speaks to the mind”
 Explanatory power: once theories
have been proposed it is possible to
see confirming instances everywhere
(inductively powerful)

Ziman
Karl Popper

Aim: To compare and
contrast the following
contemporary Twentieth
century theories




Einstein’s theory of relativity
Freud’s theory of
psychoanalysis
Alder’s
Alder
s theory of psychology
Marx’s theory of economics
What made Einstein’s theory
special?
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Popper – Falsification





Observation is guided by theory
Theories are intellectually constructed
conjectures
Theories can be conclusively falsified in
the light of suitable evidence
evidence, whereas
they can never be established as true or
even probably true whatever the evidence
Scientific hypothesis need to be falsifiable
Scientific knowledge grows, there is
progress in science
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Falsifiability ?
Freud
Marx
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Einstein
Falsifiable Hypotheses
Metals contract when heated
 Planets circle the sun in ellipses
 Large gravitational fields will bend
light
 Diseases are transmitted by germs

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Non-falsifiable hypothesis
All ferric compounds contain iron
 You might meet a tall handsome
man this evening
 Animals have evolved so as to best
fulfil the function for what they were
intended
 Human emotions are motivated by
feelings of inferiority

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Bold Conjectures and
Experimental Hypothesis


”Best” hypothesis:
bold, falsifiable,
testable
”Best” experimental
scientists: really try to
test their hypothesis
(not to verify them)
See also Nelson Goodman
on simplicity, strength and
safety of hypotheses
Hypothesis: ”All
All vowel cards have an
even number on their back”
A

B
2
3
Which two cards should one turn to
test the theory?
Goldacre, 2006
Hypothesis: ”Bats
Bats use radar and not
sight to navigate”
Case study: Dancing bees
Karl von Firsch
 Hypothesis: after
finding a source of
nectar bees returning
nectar,
to the hive use a
complex ”dance”
dance to
communicate the
location of the source
to other bees

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The ”waggle dance”
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Wenner’s challenge
No proof that the other bees
understand the dance?
 Many other ways for the bees to find
ood – including
c ud g odour-search.
odou sea c No
o
food
proof of cause and effect.


What kind of experiment would
really test the hypothesis?
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P bl
Problems
with
ith F
Falsification
l ifi ti
Scientists don’t
reject their hypothesis
 All observation
statements are
fallible, including
purporting
p
g to
those p
reject a hypothesis

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Milikan’s Oil Drop Experiment (1916)
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Auxiliary and ad hoc
Hypothesis

Scientists try to save their theories in the
light of falsifying evidence
Hypotheses are usually built on a host of
auxiliary hypothesis and subsidiary
assumptions
p

Popper’s reply


Distinguish between interpretations of
evidence that bring forth new, independently
testable hypothesis and those resorting to ad
hoc hypothesis
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British Test Veterans –
Darby et al., 1989




Hypothesis: veterans exposed to radiation during
weapons tests should not show increased leukaemia
incidence because the doses were too small
Compared medical records of 22300 exposed
veterans and military controls
B 1984,
By
1984 20 off exposed
d group had
h d died
di d off
leukaemia compared to 6 controls
Apparent
pp
increased risk dismissed
by the authors as bias since the
control cohort had an significantly
low rate of leukaemia incidence
compared to the general
population
Correct use of auxiliary
hypotheses





Independently testable
Science should be unified
Fecundity – opens up new areas of
research
Ad hoc hypothesis – no change
in testability
Example: The prediction of
Neptune
p
from Uranus’s
movements
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Mode of discovery and
mode of justification
Difference between what scientists do
as individuals (fallible) and what they
d as a scientific
do
i tifi community
it – critical
iti l
rationalism
 Progress
P
can be
b measured
d by
b the
th
significance of observations and
confirmations
 Problem: all observation statements
are fallible,
fallible including those purporting
to reject a hypothesis

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Popper’s response
”The empirical basis of objective science has nothing
”absolute” about it. Science does not rest upon a
bedrock. The bold structure of its theories rises, as it
were above a swamp. It is like a building erected on
piles. The piles are driven down from above into the
swamp,
p, but not down to any
y natural or ”given”
g
base;;
and if we stop driving the piles deeper, it is not
because we have reached firm ground. We simply
stop
p when we are satisfied that the piles
p
are firm
enough to carry the structure, at least for the time
being.”
K.R. Popper. The Logic of Scientific Discovery (London:
Hutchinson, 1968)
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Additional Literature
The Karl von Firsch dancing bees and James L.
Gould’s “blindfold” experiments are described in
Richard Dawkins, River out of Eden, Phoenix, 1995.
A more critical assessment of the dance hypothesis,
with reference to philosophy of science, is given by
the original
g
critic,, Andrew Wenner,, “The elusive
honey bee dance “language” hypothesis, Journal of
Insect Behaviour, 15: 859-878 (2002); and Wells
and Wenner ((1973)) Do bees have a language,
g g ,
Nature, 241:171-174. The Gould experiments are
described in Gould et.al., 1970, “Communication of
y the honey
y bee”,, Science,, 169: 544-554.
direction by
All easily available from the internett
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Essay Topics
Which
h h do
d you think
h k is the
h most rationall
grounding for scientific facts: observation or
theory?

Identify some key hypotheses from your
own b
branch
h off science.
i
H
How well
ll do
d they
th
meet Popper’s model?

Do some areas have an inherently harder
job in demonstrating scientific validity as
compared to physics?

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Group Discussions
Get to know your group – short introduction
round and PhD topic

Are any PhD projects based on hypothesis
testing?

How
well does your PhD project fit either Popper’s
falsification model or the inductivist approach?
Even if your own PhD is not focused on
hypothesis testing, can you identify key hypotheses
and theories from your field of research?

[email protected]
Demarcation of Science from
other academic disciplines
-
Demarcation
D
ti
off natural
t
l sciences
i
from
f
other academic disciplines
Demarcation of science from technology,
gy,
pure and applied science
Demarcation of science from mathematics
Demarcation of science from
p
pseudoscience
Main
Literature for tomorrow: Feyerabend